ten things {about my dad}.

1. he always called me "chum" or "megs". i loved it.

2. he almost always had a hat on when he wasn't in the office. most of his hats were red sox... a few celtics, patriots. but sometimes he would buy random team hats just because he liked the colors or the way they looked.


3. he whistled--so loudly--allllll the time.

4. he loved sports. and he knew alot about them... especially basketball. i can still remember his big, booming voice arguing with the officials from the stands of my high school basketball games. partly because he was defending his daughter, but also because he was mostly right ;)


5. he was a huuuuge fan of food. i mean, huge. we would plan all of our family vacations around one thing: where we would eat our meals. i'm not kidding. he also had a hatred for potlucks. he didn't like eating food made by others at the risk that it a) wasn't good or b) was contiminated by unknown germ sources. he'd always find out what my mom and a few trusted friends (who were also fantastic cooks) had made and stick closely to those dishes. he also went on and on about gretchen and i being good cooks and would request food from us often... this always made me smile because i knew he was a tough critic.


6. he kept all of the letters and cards my sister and i made him. we went through them days after he left us, crying and laughing. a few special ones he kept in the inside of his bible.

7. he had the best laugh. i mean, the best.

8. he knew everyone, and everyone knew him. i used to get annoyed going anywhere in public with him--the grocery store, restaurants... you name it. wherever we went would turn into an extended trip as he stopped several times to talk to various people he knew around town. he was a popular guy :)

9. he loved god's word. he had countless verses memorized, including the book of 2nd timothy. he also did scripture memory exercises with gretchen and i our whole childhood, and made sure we were going to do the same with our kids in the moments before he died. one of the last things i remember of being by his hospital bed was him quoting the verses philippians 4:6,7 by heart. word for word. i love that.


10. he was the *best* grandfather. i still remember him holding bella when they first came to dallas to see her and making up songs to sing to her that usually included things about jesus. he was soooo excited to spend more time with bella now that we lived in maine; which makes me really sad. but i'm so grateful he was here to hear the news that emmy was due in april... he was over-the-moon excited. bella and jude still talk about their bampie... when i tell bella that he's in heaven with jesus, she get's the cutest little "surprised" look on her face. i think she likes hearing that.


i love writing these things down about my dad... to keep his memory alive. not only for me, but for bella & emmy, too. i want them to "know" their bampie--in the greatest sense they can know him--even though he's not physically with us. i don't want to forget anything about who my dad was and how much he enjoyed life and was loved by others.

he always loved reading my blog... after almost every post he would say "great blog today, megs" (although he did tell me he didn't pay much attention to the recipe or decorating posts) ;) i miss having him read my writing, but i love that i'm getting to honor him through what i write... now more than ever.

love you, dad. thanks for being you.